A Mother's Love
by kestra17
Summary: Ianto is the Rani's only son, the only thing she loved more than Science. Is it a wonder, then, that she would find a way for him to escape the Time War? My very own try to Timelord!Ianto, tried to make it reallistic.
1. Chapter 1

Ianto's first memories are of his Mam. That makes sense, of course, because during his first years of life, his Mam is almost everything he knows. Like many other children, Ianto thinks his Mam is the smartest person in the universe, but, unlike the others, he knows there's a very good chance she _is_.

He spends those first years aboard his Mam's TARDIS. They never settle on a planet for longer than a week, and that's only if his Mam requires something the TARDIS is unable to provide. His Mam has enemies she won't talk about, and Ianto never sees another Time Lord, even if he can feel their presence in his mind.

Mam teaches Ianto about the Universe: about every planet, race, galaxy she's ever met. She teaches him about the TARDIS, about the symbiotic relationship of the ship with his Time Lord, about how to drive her if needed. She teaches him about her experiments, too, though not about the ones she keeps in her forbidden labs. Ianto asks thousands of questions, and her Mam always has the answer. Even if he doesn't understand the answer, his memory keeps track of every word, and he longs for the day when he will understand. Plus, he likes Mam smile when he asks, and the way she calls him "her most successful experiment". It may seem cold to others, but Ianto sees the proud glint in her eyes, and knows he is the only thing the powerful Rani values more than her research.

Everything changes when he is eight, though.

Mam may be set against Gallifrey's narrow-minded society and its interminable rules, but she knows that the Schism is a necessary rite of passage for every little Time Lord and Lady, and knows that Ianto will learn more in the Academy than she can teach him, things like morality and ethics, things she lacks but her son possesses in abundance. Even then Mam is clear when she tells him that _the most important rule is not to get caught_.

So, a week after his eighth birthday, he meets his first Time Lords. He finds them utterly ordinary, even if their red-colored robes _are_ impressive. He doesn't know that his existence is the juiciest gossip the Academy has known in centuries. He doesn't know, but he will learn.

Ianto will not see his Mam face-to-face for the next thirty years. He will never have the opportunity to share with her the (_wonderful, terrible, exhilarating_) things he sees at the Untempered Schism, when all time and space were _his_ to see.


	2. Chapter 2

**A Mother's Love**

**Disclaimer: Torchwood and Doctor Who don't belong to me, despite my wishes. The belong to BBC, and their producers. **

**Oh, and this is Un-beta'd. English is not my first (or second) language. Please point any typos or flaws you may see, I promise not to be offended. **

**Chapter 1**

Ianto never makes many friends at the Academy. Partly is because the "normal" students are more than a little wary of his mother, and of him too. Ianto ponders if maybe they believe impropriety to be contagious, but he really doesn't care. They are too different, too _proper_ to be his friends. Ianto- or Aleph, his assigned name during his academic years, in preparation of the time when he shall choose his own- wants to go out and _see _the Universe, not remain in a boring classroom and learn about it. After his first punishment, he learns not to express his opinions out loud, to fade into the background as much as possible.

The Time War starts in earnest when he's thirty-nine. The first battles are nowhere near Gallifrey, of course, and the Academy is not affected. That doesn't last, however.

Ianto's Mam comes to see him during a peace period between two battles. All adult Time Lords, even rogue ones like the Master or the Rani, have been called to arms. Ianto wakes up one morning to find himself on Mam's TARDIS, with a very harried looking Rani at the console, driving toward a yet unknown destination. She looks different, with long blonde tresses and pale eyes and skin, but her mind is as familiar as ever, and Ianto rushes forward to hug her.

My dear son- she says, for once letting affection fill her voice- Oh, how I missed you! But I'm afraid we don't have the time for emotive reencounters. I need you to sit and listen without interruptions, because I bring with me the most terrible news, and you most definitively need to know.

The Rani explains to him how the War is really going, the things no one in the Academy dare to say out loud. She tells him the Dalek forces multiply with every battle won, that the Time Lords are dying by the dozens. But that's not the worst part.

The Council, led by the resurrected Rassilon, has found an ultimate solution for the War. They call it the Final Sanction which would destroy all creation while elevating the Time Lords into beings of pure consciousness. _Don't worry, _she says_, I don't intend for that to happen_. His Mam, using her famed intellect, has created a veritable trail of bread crumbs intended for an old acquaintance of her, leading to her most dangerous creation, the Moment.

If everything works as it should, and I know it will, the Moment will freeze the Time War in time, creating an impenetrable bubble around it. No time machine, not even a TARDIS will ever be able to travel to or from the War.

I…I never took you for the self-sacrificing kind, Mam. You realize you will be saving the Universe through your actions, don't you?

Don't be ridiculous! I couldn't care less about the Universe, and I was never suicidal. I'm merely practical. I've regenerated five times since you last saw me, and this is my last body. Trying to escape would be foolish, and there's nothing I despise more than foolishness. That doesn't mean, however, that _you_ cannot escape. In fact, it can be argued you have already escaped. We arrived to our destination five minutes ago, after all.

Ianto realizes for the first time the TARDIS has settled. The panels inform him that he is in _Cardiff, Earth_, and the date is _17__th__ September, 1999._ He looks at his mother, utterly baffled.

There's a rift in time and space that runs through Cardiff, so this is the best place to hide a TARDIS and have its signal go undetected. Furthermore, no self-respecting Time Lord will ever come to Earth, since the Doctor claimed this planet as his own. I can think of no better place for you. You look about twelve in human years, and once you use the Chameleon Arch, you will age at human speed, too.

Chameleon Arch? I'm not using a Chamelon Arch! It's bad enough I'm gonna lose you, I'm not losing all my memories of you.

Hush! Don't contradict me, son. You are not going to forget me anyways. I have been preparing this escape for the last two years. I have had more than enough time for tweaking my TARDIS Chamelon Arch and make it change only your physiology, leaving your memories intact.

Ianto is feeling completely overwhelmed. He's barely a teenager by his race account, and only half-way through his education. He's _too young_ to lose his Mam, to lose his whole world. Too young to be left alone in a strange world. But extreme measures are needed, and Ianto's trust in his Mam is complete. If she cannot see another way, there isn't one.

The next few hours are chaotic, to say the least. Mam explains all the measures she has taken to protect and prepare him: the new and expanded library, with a copy of every book his Mam has been able to find; the copy of the TARDIS manual, because Ianto is very much like her in that aspect, and cannot imagine being tied to a planet forever. She teaches him how to work the new Chamelon Arch, too, and Ianto hold back tears at the thought that she won't be there when he finally uses it. Mam has one of those stupid human time-travelling bracelets, those that seem like a joke compared to the TARDIS. Still, it suits her purposes just fine, and it only needs to last for one single, final travel.

Once everything is said and done, Ianto's Mam tucks him into bed, as she used to you when he was younger, and presses her TARDIS keys into his palm. Ianto fights for remaining awake, but his Mam's voice is oh so soothing, and, eventually, Ianto's eyes close.

When he wakes up the next morning, he is alone.

**Hope you liked! Don't forget to leave a review, please. This is my very first try at writing and it would mean a lot for me. **

**Best wishes,**

**Kestra.**


End file.
